The prosecution in the case of the 13 out of the 31 residents of Sodom and Gomorrah who are being tried for rioting, says the witnesses are unavailable.
Inspector Emmanuel Haligah said the key witnesses expected to testify in the trial were police officers from different units of the Service who are currently on various assignments.
He told the Kaneshie District Magistrate Court, presided over by Adwoa Akyaamaa Ofosu, that the investigator in the case had sent information to the commanders of the units concerned for the police officers to be released to come and assist in the trial.
Inspector Haligah accordingly prayed the court to grant the prosecution an adjournment to enable it commence the trial.
The trial judge adjourned hearing of the case at the instance of the prosecution, until July 23, 2015.
It may be recalled that the accused persons at the last sitting were remanded into police custody because there were no interpreters to assist them.
Eighteen others who pleaded not guilty for engaging in unlawful demonstration, rioting with weapons and obstructing the public, were granted GH¢5,000 bail with two sureties each to be justified, but were unable to meet the bail conditions.
The prosecution averred that on June 22, the Greater Accra Regional Police Command had information that some youth of Agbogbloshie, numbering about 3,000, were marching from Arena through the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue to Parliament House holding placards.
Inspector Haligah said the police quickly proceeded to the place and met the youth, including the accused persons, some of whom were armed with stones and clubs.
He said the protestors were denied entry by the police, and not satisfied, they uprooted flowers at the Parliament House, destroyed the Coat of Arms and some flower pots.
‘The accused persons later went back to Agbogbloshie and set fire to lorry tyres in the middle of the road to prevent motorists and commuters from using it,’ he said.
The police officer said the accused persons and others, now at large, vandalised police vehicles with registration numbers GP 8 (Nissan Patrol), GP 1636 (Mahindra Scorpio), GP 3887 (Nissan Navara), GP 1570 and a Honda motorbike.
He said the activities of the accused persons compelled many companies and businesses at Agbogbloshie, including the branches of Barclays and HFC banks, to close down.
Inspector Haligah said some drivers who were trapped, abandoned their vehicles in the middle of the road and the accused persons and others took advantage of the situation, ransacked the vehicles and vandalised them.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
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